USA National Studies

Hey guys I currently need some help, I'm writing out all the essays for this section but I'm really struggling with 'To what extent did domestic pressures influence American foreign policy from 1919-1941?', any ideas?

Re: USA National Studies

This dot point always messes with me so I tend to ignore it lol.
A few examples I can think of include:

- Isolationist senators (a domestic pressure) impacting on the US' decision to not join the World Court in 1923, 1926, and 1935, even though the population majority wanted it.
- Rejection of the League of Nations (19 November 1919) for the same reasons. Could also talk about how immigrants in the US from Europe wanted to stay away from the troubles of international politics, as the League didn't really benefit them.
- The Dawes and Young Plans which were influenced by the economists who researched into Germany's ability to repay war reparations.
- Immigration quotas (Emergency Quota Act, Johnson-Reed Act) emerged due to social tensions in the US e.g. racism towards immigrants, religious fundamentalism. This was solidified with the National Origins Act (1 July 1929), which made new quotas for nations that had only recently emerged.
- Panay Incident occurred due to people's desire to not engage in physical conflict, and the Isolationist senators.

Just all I could think of from the top of my head lol, I hope that helps at least a little??? Basically just think of a foreign policy or legislation or whatever, and then think of why it came to be. Were there domestic pressures inside the country, or was the foreign policy influenced by international events?

Re: USA National Studies

Thanks, dude, I ended up going with the election of 1920 as an indication of growing support for isolationism, the Republican economic policies (i.e. tariffs) which further displayed isolationism within society, the anti-communism and xenophobia leading to the red scare and thus immigration restrictions and quotas and finally the election of 1940 which displayed growing acceptance of interventionism in response to tensions within Europe and the Pacific